


all i want now is you

by xslytherclawx



Series: Chanukah 5780 [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Jewish Character, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hanukkah, Interfaith Relationship, Jewish Holidays, LGBT Jewish Character, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21912400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: It was truly remarkable how much Neville's life had changed in the past year.He’d gotten a boyfriend, quit his job, started an apprenticeship under a leading Herbologist, and then, almost out of nowhere, he’d gotten a letter from Professor McGonagall asking him to come in to interview for the position of Junior Herbology Professor. He'd gone in for an interview, and gotten an offer.He was promised that he could live in London and commute – he was only a Junior Professor, after all, and nowhere near a Head of House – so he accepted.And he loved it.
Relationships: Anthony Goldstein/Neville Longbottom
Series: Chanukah 5780 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562047
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18
Collections: All Your Faves Are Jewish, ravenclaw au (xslytherclawx & thestias's harry potter multiverse), xslytherclawx & thestias's harry potter multiverse, xslytherclawx's jewish fic





	all i want now is you

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically part of my Ravenclaw AU, but you haven't got to read that to understand this!  
> It is, in addition, a sequel to last year's fic [now you're here (with me)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876767).

It was truly remarkable how much his life had changed in the past year.

He’d gotten a boyfriend, quit his job, started an apprenticeship under a leading Herbologist, and then, almost out of nowhere, he’d gotten a letter from Professor McGonagall asking him to come in to interview for the position of Junior Herbology Professor.

Anthony had encouraged him, of course, and he wasn’t wrong when he said it was Neville’s dream. He loved Herbology, and once he’d gotten to a point where he was helping people, he’d loved that, too. Helping people had been the only part of being an auror that hadn’t made his stomach churn.

So he’d applied, interviewed (with McGonagall, and with Professor Sprout, too), and gotten an offer. He was promised that he could live in London and commute – he was only a _Junior_ Professor, after all, and nowhere near a Head of House – so he accepted.

And he loved it.

He worked mostly with the younger students, but he’d covered a few O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. classes, mostly when Professor Sprout had urgent business to attend to, or was feeling under the weather, and what had surprised him the most was how many of the students _knew_ him.

He’d known, logically, that his was a household name. But none of the students – even the seventh years – had ever been at Hogwarts with him. He supposed he hadn’t accounted for older siblings and student legends and just plain _fame_ interfering with his planned image as quiet Herbology teacher.

“Is it true,” one of the first years had asked him barely a week into term, “that you killed You-Know-Who’s snake in front of everyone?”

Now he knew why Harry was still an auror. At least there, he could blame the job for his lack of a quiet life.

A week before Chanukah (which did not overlap with Christmas this year), Anthony asked him if there was still an event at Hogwarts for the Jewish students. There was, and Neville told him so.

“I sort of miss it,” Anthony said. “It was the one time of year I really felt like House didn’t matter.”

* * *

Though he wasn’t Jewish, he _was_ Anthony’s boyfriend, so he celebrated Chanukah with him at home each night (and with his whole extended family on the first night, which happened to be a Friday – if any of the Goldsteins were surprised that they’d lasted nearly a whole year, none of them showed it).

The last night of Chanukah overlapped with the end of term, and it marked one week before Neville and Anthony’s first anniversary (on the secular calendar, at least; Anthony had insisted on spending the sixth night of Chanukah lavishing attention on him for their _Jewish_ anniversary, which Hermione and Harry confirmed wasn’t _really_ a thing, but Neville didn’t mind).

Neville loved teaching, but it was hard work, and he was looking forward to spending more than two days with his boyfriend. Compared to the weekend, two whole weeks together seemed like an unbelievable luxury. They already had plans for their (secular) anniversary.

He was surprised when, on that last day of term, a few students stopped by his office to drop off gifts. McGonagall had already been over this: he was allowed to accept gifts from students as long as he made it clear that this had no bearing on their standing in his class. So he thanked them, confused though he was, and wished them a happy holiday.

One of the students lingered behind, a quiet first year from a Muggle family. Neville smiled and said, “Did you need anything else, Melissa?”

“It’s just that – Honoria Smith said your boyfriend’s Jewish.”

“That’s right,” Neville said. He didn’t, as a rule, like talking about his personal life with his students, but it wasn’t as if it hadn’t been all over the Prophet when they’d sniffed out that he and Anthony had got together. Besides, Neville _definitely_ didn’t attempt to hide the fact that he was dating a man. He’d even mentioned having a boyfriend in class before (usually related to the practical applications of Herbology, as Anthony was a Healer who had a N.E.W.T. in the subject).

“So do you celebrate Chanukah, sir?”

“Not… on my own, no,” Neville said. “I’m not Jewish myself. But I do celebrate it with him when he invites me to.”

“I wanted to go to the school Chanukah party, but I didn’t know if – if anyone I knew would be there.”

Neville was aware that no one on staff was Jewish, and that the party was student-run. Anthony had always acted like that was part of the charm, though he knew Hermione had disagreed.

“Well,” Neville said, “my boyfriend – and my Jewish friends, too – always had fun at that party.”

“It’s just that… Christmas is _everywhere,_ sir.”

It wasn’t like Neville hadn’t ever thought about it. His boyfriend was Jewish, and two of his closest friends, too. But where Anthony would have just found some other way to connect with other Jewish students, Hermione might have organized a protest, and Harry would have just complained… Neville found himself in a position to do something about it.

He knew what Anthony would say he should do, anyway, which is what he did. “It’s a bit late this year, but – I’ll talk to Professor McGonagall and see if we can’t get something a bit more inclusive in the Great Hall next year. After all, it’s hardly as if you’re the only one who doesn’t celebrate Christmas.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Of course,” Neville said. “I can just about guarantee you right now that the Christmas trees will stay, but there’s no reason we can’t have other religions and holidays represented, too.”

Melissa grinned. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome,” Neville said. “Though it’s really my pleasure.”

After she left, just to be sure he did follow through on it, Neville went up to Professor McGonagall’s office. She was at her desk when he came in, but she looked as if she was expecting him – given the way the portraits talked, she probably was.

“Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall,” he said.

“We’ve been over this, Neville,” she said. “Call me Minerva.”

He didn’t think that would ever not be weird. “Right. Minerva. Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon,” she said. “Take a seat. How can I help you?”

Neville sat down. “A student approached me – a first year – and she said the fact that the entire castle is decorated for Christmas with no real thought to other holidays or traditions felt a bit… alienating. And, er, thinking on it, really, Anthony and Hermione and Harry all said the same at – various points. So I thought it might be a good idea, next year, to at least have… a school chanukiah – that’s the candelabra. Or something like that.”

“I see,” McGonagall said.

“I know it’s too late for this year, and I told her that, but… especially with students coming from Muggle families, it – Hogwarts isn’t a pleasant place when you’re feeling excluded.”

“And you think doing this will make them feel more included?”

“I do,” Neville said.

McGonagall seemed to consider it. “We’d have to determine every holiday celebrated by the student body.”

“I mean, I think the main issue is alienation, and I know we already accomodate for major holidays…”

“You’re right,” McGonagall said, surprising him. “It’s thoughtless that, though we accommodate for major holidays for our students, come December, the entire castle is decorated for a holiday not everyone celebrates.” She made a note on a piece of parchment. “I’ll look into the best way to go about this, but thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

“I think it might also help to get – someone official in for the Chanukah party. I know you don’t need a rabbi, or anything, but… it might make the students feel a bit better about going if they knew there would be adults there.”

“What about Anthony?” McGonagall asked.

“Anthony?”

“Well, I’m sure Harry or Hermione would be happy to help, but I don’t think most of the students would… quite remember that they’re normal people.”

“I don’t want to answer for him,” Neville said. “And his job’s got odd hours, though I know things are a bit different around the holidays. If you’d like to write him – or I can discuss it with him.”

“It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get together a group of students and alumni who _don’t_ celebrate Christmas or Easter and ask them their thoughts,” McGonagall said.

“I’m sure Hermione would be interested in that,” Neville said. “She’s always liked forming committees.”

* * *

By the time Neville got home, he was exhausted. The telltale smell of cooking oil meant that Anthony was probably frying latkes, so Neville went into the kitchen.

Sure enough, Anthony was there, wearing worn old pyjamas and humming a tune that sounded familiar. This was always the best part of Neville’s day, and even though he’d had a pretty great day, he was still glad to be home with Anthony.

Neville walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Hello.”

Anthony smiled. “Hello. How was work?”

“Really good, actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I think I talked McGonagall into forming a committee to make sure all the Jewish and Muslim and Hindu kids – and, well, anyone else who doesn’t celebrate Christmas – don’t feel so alienated around the end of term.”

Anthony stopped what he was doing, setting a charm to do the work for him. “You did what?”

“One of my students came to me, asked me if my boyfriend was Jewish – so obviously I said yes, because you are – and she started telling me that Christmas was _everywhere,_ and she hadn’t felt like she’d know anyone at the Chanukah party, so she hadn’t gone, and I thought… it’s not as if you’ve never talked about that. Or Harry or Hermione. And I’m actually in a position to do something about it. So I talked to McGonagall.”

“And she agreed?”

“She said she’d look into it, and then she brought up maybe forming a committee. We also, er, discussed potentially getting an adult chaperone in for the Chanukah parties. There’s no one Jewish on staff, but… plenty of Jewish alumni.”

“I’m sure everyone would want to go if Harry were to do it.”

“Which is probably why McGonagall’d ask him last,” Neville said.

“Probably,” Anthony agreed. He kissed him. “I wish I’d had that idea back when Lupin was on staff. He’d probably have talked to Dumbledore about it. But then… who knows if Dumbledore would have done anything. McGonagall almost definitely will.”

“I’m surprised it took this long, really. It’s not as if this is anything new.”

“I’ve always found it a bit odd that wizards – especially Purebloods – hold on to Christmas and Easter and Sunday dinner as vestiges of Christianity when most of them haven’t been properly Christian for centuries. Honestly – far be it from me to tear anyone apart for their traditions, but… it’s hardly as if wizarding culture is as far removed from Christianity as most people think.”

“I feel like I’ve noticed that a lot lately,” Neville said.

“You know I’ve really got no problem with you celebrating Christian holidays,” Anthony said.

“I know,” Neville said. 

“As weird as dragging a dead tree inside and covering it with baubles is – we’ve got a holiday where we live in a hut for a week. It’s all relative.”

“Sukkot, isn’t it?” Neville asked.

“That’s right,” Anthony said. “Though I imagine it was easier to celebrate before the advent of modern cities. Rolf said it was a completely different experience in a kibbutz.”

“Do you ever regret that… that Rolf is out there doing all of that? And you’re here?”

Anthony shook his head. “Not at all. Sometimes I wish my parents had made me practise Hebrew more at home, but – beyond that, I don’t think I’m jealous of Rolf for anything. We’re both quite happy with how our respective lives have turned out, I think.” He looked Neville in the eye. “Neville, you know I love you. I love being your boyfriend. I’ve taken time off this week for the express purpose of spending extra time with you, and I couldn’t be happier with that decision.”

“I–I know,” Neville said.

Anthony kissed him, and, really, Neville didn’t know how in the world he’d managed to be lucky enough that Anthony loved him back. It wasn’t like he thought that he didn’t _deserve_ him, or that Anthony was without his own quirks and flaws, but he was just so happy. This was nothing like either of his previous relationships in all of the best ways – not that Luna and Hannah weren’t both perfectly lovely, of course.

And, well, the sex was pretty fucking fantastic, too.

Pity they didn’t have time for that in the moment. Anthony’s cousins would be by soon, and while what Neville knew of them led him to believe they were pretty punctual, he could never be too sure.

“Do you want me to finish up here while you get dressed?” Neville asked, by which he really meant making sure the charms did their job.

“That’d be great,” Anthony said. He kissed him on the cheek and went into their bedroom to change. Neville turned his attention back to the latkes. The charm was really doing all of the work, so all he had to do was watch.

It was so mundane and domestic. Neville certainly wasn’t about to complain. His upbringing hadn’t really been full of loving parents and domestic scenes. He wasn’t even convinced his Gran knew how to cook; she’d always had the House Elves do that. 

It wasn’t as if he was under any delusions that his life with Anthony was perfect. 

It wasn’t. 

They were both still traumatized by the war (and even after the war, Neville’s work as an Auror and Anthony’s as a Healer hadn’t exactly done much to mitigate that trauma). Hermione had some acronym she said the Muggles called what they all dealt with, but Neville didn’t particularly care about _naming_ it. All he knew is that even when he was sleeping with Anthony next to him (which was nearly every night, except when Anthony worked an overnight shift), he was prone to night terrors – and so was Anthony. 

It had been something that had brought them together as flatmates and as friends, and to be sure, Neville didn’t think, at this point, he could feasibly have a long-term relationship with someone who _didn’t_ understand what he’d gone through… sometimes it just left them both drained and miserable. 

Even without that, relationships were hard. Living with your significant other was harder. Neville was pretty sure he and Anthony would bicker sometimes even if Voldemort really _had_ died for good when they’d been a year old. They were usually pretty good at resolving any problems they came across, but, well, that didn’t mean things were _perfect._

And yet he was so happy. Happier than he’d previously thought he’d had any right being. He was in a relationship with a man he loved, doing a job he loved, coming home every night to a cozy flat that was as much his anymore as it was Anthony’s, and he had plenty of friends who loved and supported him.

Some niggling feeling at the back of his mind told him that this couldn’t last forever.

“Oh, good, they’ve not arrived yet.”

Neville looked up to see Anthony, cleaned up and shaven, in jeans and a sky blue jumper Neville knew firsthand not only was incredibly soft, but also complemented his eyes perfectly .

“No,” Neville said.

“I promise my cousins won’t be as bad as they were last year,” Anthony said. He started to plate the latkes and move everything over to the table.

“Really?” Neville asked. “I’m properly your boyfriend now.”

“Exactly,” Anthony said. “Everything’s out in the open. What, are they going to make sly remarks about me fancying you?”

“I suppose that’d be a bit strange.”

Anthony kissed his cheek. “I’m pretty sure Naomi, at least, would have been a Slytherin if she’d gone to Hogwarts. She’s far too conniving for any other House.”

“You think?”

“Oh, absolutely. And Uncle Isaac’s all but told me he thinks Uncle Dan’d have been in Slytherin. If, y’know, he’d gone to Hogwarts, and wasn’t a Muggleborn. Though I think part of that is him trying to act like that’s the only place Naomi gets it.”

“I don’t think I know any of them well enough to really say anything.”

“Well,” Anthony said, “they all adore you, so you haven’t got to worry about that.”

“I really can’t believe that I’m _anyone’s_ ideal… well, person to date their nephew.”

“They’d both probably prefer you not have been a Gryffindor, but besides that – you’re kind and polite and lovely and brave and you treat me well – what’s not to love?”

“I’m not Jewish.”

“Neither was my mum when my dad started dating her. And I’m not saying you’ve got to convert or anything, of course, but – you not being Jewish is really not as much of an issue as you might think.”

“Why not?” Neville asked.

“Because we’re both men,” Anthony said. “Judaism’s matrilineal, usually, though some traditions accept patrilineal Jews as Jews. So – regardless, if we _were_ to get married and have kids, hypothetically, they’d probably need to do a mikveh immersion anyway. That’s what my uncles did with both of their kids, and both their parents are Jewish.”

“Oh,” Neville said. Was Anthony already thinking about marriage and kids? It wasn’t like Neville didn’t want both of those things, but he had no real frame of reference for that. This wasn’t even his longest relationship – was it normal to start talking about those sorts of things after a year? They did already live together, after all, though that had been more of a byproduct of being flatmates first.

There was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Anthony said. “Would you mind setting up the wine?”

“Sure,” Neville said. Even as he uncorked a bottle of wine and got six glasses, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Anthony had said. _Was_ he thinking about kids? They weren’t too young for it. They were twenty-six, and Harry and Ginny already had two kids, and Ron and Hermione had a daughter, and – well, a lot of people Neville knew were already parents.

His own parents had been older when he’d been born, but that wasn’t exactly the norm. Anthony’s parents weren’t that old. 

Anthony was back in the kitchen before Neville could do much else, with his uncles and cousins with him. He’d just seen them all just a week ago, but they acted as if they hadn’t seen him in a year.

“Neville!” Anthony’s uncle Dan greeted him with a hug. Isaac shot him a sympathetic look, but it was fine. It was a bit weird that the Goldsteins all treated him like part of the family already, but it was hardly as if Neville had much in the way of family himself. “Anthony tells us it was the last day of your first term teaching today.”

“That’s right,” Neville said as Dan pulled away. “I – really, I quite like it. More than I thought I would.”

“I could have told you Neville’d be a great professor,” Anthony said with no small note of pride. “Probably the only better Defense teachers I had were Lupin and Harry.”

Neville felt himself blush. “I didn’t really teach _you_ anything when it came to Defense,” he said. 

“That’s not true,” Anthony said. “Though you _were_ working much more closely with the younger students.”

“And it’s not as if –” Neville started. “Anthony knows as well as I do that Lupin was our only decent Defense professor.”

“Even though that’s true, you’re still an excellent teacher,” Anthony said. He kissed him on the cheek. “As I’m sure your students can attest to.”

“They seem to like me,” Neville said. He felt a bit uncomfortable with all of this attention on him. “A-anyway, how has your holiday been, Rabbi Goldstein, Mr. Sokolovsky?”

“Again, Neville, please call me Isaac.”

“Right,” Neville said. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Isaac said. “And our holiday’s been lovely.”

* * *

Dinner was absolutely lovely, and Neville was pleasantly surprised that Anthony’s cousins didn’t needle him too much (Anthony, on the other hand, was apparently deemed fair game). It was nice to spend time with a couple – who were both men – who had been together as long as he’d been alive. The only models Neville had had for a relationship growing up had been his grandparents and his Uncle Algie and Aunt Enid.

Afterward, they all had dessert and a drink. 

“You know, Neville,” Dan said, “did anyone ever tell you that Isaac introduced me to his family after we’d only been dating for four months?”

Isaac rolled his eyes. “Just my parents.”

“That’s right; you’d introduced me to your brother and sister-in-law after a week.”

“And Anthony, too, though that might make it worse.”

“I have absolutely no memory of that,” Anthony said. “I must’ve been – what, three?”

“Nearly that,” Isaac said.

“And to be fair to Isaac – when he went to introduce me to his cousin Ruth, it turned out that we’d been friends for over a year.”

“We went to the same synagogue. He taught Sunday school. It’s surprising he _didn’t_ know my whole family – at least the magical side – already. Besides – I couldn’t just tell my parents I was dating a wizard and tell my mum no when she asked to meet him.”

“Bubbe _is_ sort of terrifying,” Jonathan said. “I wouldn’t tell her no.”

Dan leaned in conspiratorially. “Nothing compares to when my birth father found out Isaac and I _weren’t_ just friends.”

“Oh, god,” Isaac said. “Don’t remind me. My parents adored Dan immediately – and by that I mean my mother, knowing Dan and I had only been together for about four months, asked me when I was planning on marrying him.”

Dan laughed and kissed his cheek. “And you weren’t even the one to propose.”

“She really asked you about _marrying_ him after four months?” Anthony asked.

“Well, think about it from her point of view – Dan’s a Muggleborn, he’s Ashkenazi, he wanted to get married and have kids – eventually, anyway – he was important enough for me to introduce him, we were obviously already in love, and I think she’d got it into her head from the time I was young that I’d end up marrying a man.”

“My parents have never…” Anthony said.

“Oh, they wouldn’t,” Isaac said. “Your dad didn’t even tell our parents he was dating your mum before they got engaged. I mean, Miri and I knew, but he didn’t _tell_ us, either.”

“He didn’t?” Anthony asked.

Isaac shook his head. “He didn’t try to hide it at school, but it’s not as if he took us aside and told us he had a girlfriend. I think I found out because I saw them kissing during a Hogsmeade weekend. So I really don’t think he’d pressure _you_ about marriage.”

“Well, I’ve also not dated anyone who’s Jewish.”

“Trust me,” Isaac said, “neither of your parents care about that one bit. I seriously doubt that David _or_ Cass would act the slightest bit differently if Neville were Jewish. I’m not even sure that’s on their mind at all.”

“The funny thing about parents is that we really just want our kids to be happy,” Dan said. “Well – the good ones, anyway. Which your parents _definitely_ are.”

* * *

After Anthony’s uncles and cousins left, they were finally alone. 

Neville kissed him. “Happy Chanukah.”

“Thanks,” Anthony said.

“Your, er, your uncles sort of – talked a lot about marriage, didn’t they?”

“Did they?” Anthony asked. “I didn’t notice.”

“You know them better than I do, but it definitely felt that way to me.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I-I mean, is that something you’re thinking about?”

Anthony laced their fingers together. “Honestly? Not in anything more than the abstract. It’s not that I wouldn’t _want_ to marry you, but I don’t think I want to get married for a few years yet. A-and definitely not before we’ve been together – and lived together – for at least another year or two.”

“Oh, thank Merlin,” Neville said. “I love you – I do – and I’m so happy with you, but… it just seems a bit soon for all of that.”

“I completely agree,” Anthony said. He leaned in and kissed him. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“Me, too.”

“Now,” Anthony said, starting to trail kisses down Neville’s neck as his hands worked on the buttons of his robes. “I’ve been waiting to get you out of those robes since you came home. Shall we go to the bedroom?”

Neville grinned. “It’s like you can read my mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on [tumblr](http://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com)!  
> Please feel free to join my [Harry Potter discord server](https://discord.gg/yb6bS3c)!


End file.
